The season’s first real blast of Arctic air pushed temperatures deep into the 20s across metro Atlanta and into the teens in the mountains early Wednesday, but forecasters are promising highs in the mid-60s by the weekend.
Temperatures at 7 a.m. Wednesday ranged from 22 in Alpharetta and 23 in Chamblee, Dunwoody and Johns Creek to 27 in Marietta and 28 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The winds had diminished since Tuesday afternoon’s 35 mph gusts, but were still enough to drop the wind chill into the upper teens and low 20s across the area.
Eugene Driver was well bundled up as he waited to transfer from a train to a bus at the MARTA Five Points station.
“When I saw the temperatures were going to drop, I broke out my old coat and got prepared for today,” said Driver, who works with the heating and air conditioning systems at Atlanta Medical Center. “I know when the weatherman says it’s coming, it’s coming.”
Wednesday morning’s subfreezing temperatures dipped well into Georgia, with Macon reporting 28 degrees. In the mountains, it was 15 degrees in Blairsville.
Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton said afternoon highs Wednesday will only reach to around 47 degrees, followed by another cold night with lows in the upper 20s.
But a warm-up will begin Thursday afternoon, when highs should climb into the upper 50s under sunny skies.
Friday will be partly cloudy with morning lows around 40 followed by highs in the upper 50s.
Minton’s weekend forecast calls for highs in the mid-60s and lows in the lows in the upper 40s to mid-50s, with a 30 percent chance of rain Sunday.
Staff photographer John Spink contributed to this article.
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